Your daughter's gut feeling is good about taking her outside. A bit of sunshine and grass can make a huge difference in boosting their will to live. It has been one of the most significant factors in the recovery of some of my chickens.
That first photo is almost classic "Marek's Splits" She is young to get it but still within the age range. Where did you get the chicks from? Were they from a hatchery or private breeder? Were there chickens on the property before you moved to it and did you brood them in an old chicken coop or in the house or somewhere else? The Marek's virus can lie dormant for months if not years on a property. It is contracted via the inhalation of infected dander dust from an infected bird. The incubation period is a minimum of 3 weeks but it can lie dormant for weeks months or even years. Outbreaks are often triggered by stress.... that may be change of environment, being bullied perhaps due to lack of space, hormone surges at point of lay or decrease during moult etc and what stresses one bird may not stress another so whilst all birds may be infected with the virus about the same time, one might have an outbreak 4-5 weeks later and others might be fine for months before they show any symptoms and some will be resistant to it and some may not have been infected at all. I've had some birds with Marek's be floundering on their side for a day or two and then make a miraculous recovery as quickly as they took bad, so that you would never know they had been incapacitated. Others decline fast and die and some take months of supportive care to recover from an outbreak and others die despite extensive care. If it is Marek's and she recovers, she will probably be prone to future and usually more prolonged attacks but her quality of life in between could be very good. Supporting her immune system with a good poultry supplement and her digestive tract with a good diet and perhaps a probiotic or fermented feed and keeping her happy and stress free will give her the best chance to fight it. I may be wrong of course and it may not be Marek's, but the course of treatment outlined above can only be beneficial even if it isn't Marek's.
Good luck to you and your daughter with her. You are doing a great job. I would take the hobble/restraint off and see how she goes. In my experience of Marek's, they need to learn to regain control of the limb. I encourage them to walk towards a favourite treat..... just a short distance at first and gradually over a period of days and weeks, extending the distance. It is important that she is not flustered during this therapy by having other chickens directly compete with her. I put my sick birds in a large cage on the lawn and scatter scratch in and around the cage and encourage the other chickens to forage around her whilst she eats whatever is in the cage. Then at dusk, after the other chickens have gone to bed, open the cage and let her try to make her own way back to the coop. It can appear quite cruel to see a chicken hobbling or dragging itself by it's wings but over a period of time I have seen them redevelop the motor skills in a limb that they previously had no control over. As I said, sometimes the recovery can be extremely dramatic and almost instantaneous and other times more drawn out.
Best wishes
Barbara
That first photo is almost classic "Marek's Splits" She is young to get it but still within the age range. Where did you get the chicks from? Were they from a hatchery or private breeder? Were there chickens on the property before you moved to it and did you brood them in an old chicken coop or in the house or somewhere else? The Marek's virus can lie dormant for months if not years on a property. It is contracted via the inhalation of infected dander dust from an infected bird. The incubation period is a minimum of 3 weeks but it can lie dormant for weeks months or even years. Outbreaks are often triggered by stress.... that may be change of environment, being bullied perhaps due to lack of space, hormone surges at point of lay or decrease during moult etc and what stresses one bird may not stress another so whilst all birds may be infected with the virus about the same time, one might have an outbreak 4-5 weeks later and others might be fine for months before they show any symptoms and some will be resistant to it and some may not have been infected at all. I've had some birds with Marek's be floundering on their side for a day or two and then make a miraculous recovery as quickly as they took bad, so that you would never know they had been incapacitated. Others decline fast and die and some take months of supportive care to recover from an outbreak and others die despite extensive care. If it is Marek's and she recovers, she will probably be prone to future and usually more prolonged attacks but her quality of life in between could be very good. Supporting her immune system with a good poultry supplement and her digestive tract with a good diet and perhaps a probiotic or fermented feed and keeping her happy and stress free will give her the best chance to fight it. I may be wrong of course and it may not be Marek's, but the course of treatment outlined above can only be beneficial even if it isn't Marek's.
Good luck to you and your daughter with her. You are doing a great job. I would take the hobble/restraint off and see how she goes. In my experience of Marek's, they need to learn to regain control of the limb. I encourage them to walk towards a favourite treat..... just a short distance at first and gradually over a period of days and weeks, extending the distance. It is important that she is not flustered during this therapy by having other chickens directly compete with her. I put my sick birds in a large cage on the lawn and scatter scratch in and around the cage and encourage the other chickens to forage around her whilst she eats whatever is in the cage. Then at dusk, after the other chickens have gone to bed, open the cage and let her try to make her own way back to the coop. It can appear quite cruel to see a chicken hobbling or dragging itself by it's wings but over a period of time I have seen them redevelop the motor skills in a limb that they previously had no control over. As I said, sometimes the recovery can be extremely dramatic and almost instantaneous and other times more drawn out.
Best wishes
Barbara
